I would also like some assistance with this. I have modded my Homey to try and increase RF 433 range but with average results. ZWave and Zigbee are not an issue on my system. Can people who have done this and know their stuff confirm the below?
Do the aerials differ for different frequencies? 433/ZWave/Zigbee/Wifi/Bluetooth
Is it best to remove the existing aerials and connect to a connector built into the case where an aerial can be fitted via SMA connector?
Are the aerials attached to the case better than the ones with long cables?
A word of caution: doing this mod can damage your Homeyā¦at least I think I did.
After changing out the antennas I monitored the different protocols for a couple of days. The zigbee is hard for me to evaluate since I only have one unit (Aqara multisensor) but the Zwave looked really good after the mod.
However the 433 MHz system didnāt do much better than with the original antenna which was a shame since the main reason for me to do the mod was to get stronger and better 433 MHz communications. To see if there was something wrong with the new 433 MHz antenna I tested two other external antennas that I know are good. No differenceā¦but after testing the last one, a big guy, suddenly the whole 433 MHz system went offline.
After doing a lot of trouble shooting (even placing the original antenna back on the board) and good instructions from Athom support we now have came to the conclusion that the 433 MHz system is indeed dead.
I have no idea what could have caused thisā¦did the big antenna demand too much from the 433 MHz chip? Did I accidentally short something out when soldering the antenna wires? Who knowsā¦my Homey is now functioning great except for 433 MHz and I have to decide what to do. Send it to Athom so they can take a (costly?) look? Buying a new? Buying a used?
I knew this was a risk I took when I put the knife to Homey, so Iām not bitterā¦I will have a working Homey againā¦but my biggest problem is to decide if I dare to do the antenna mod again.
I ended up sending my Homey to Athom for troubleshooting. They commended me for the nice job I did opening up Homey and the soldering I had done. Sadly they were not able to fix the 433 MHz-system, so they sent it back to me.
I found a preowned Homey (with Advanced flow and one year warranty left) for around ā¬300 and had it sent to me. After setting it up using the latest backup I could test it. After a few days of running I have found that this Homey have much better 433 MHz and Zwave communications than my first one had, comparing them both as stock (no antenna mod). My dashboard filled up quickly with āSensor inactiveā notifications with my first one, but with the replacement I get just a few per dayā¦if that.
The Zwave mesh looks much neater also. As stated before I canāt really tell how the Zigbee mesh is working since I only have one unit, and that is battery driven.
To me it seams my first Homey was defective from the start. The poor 433 MHz communication was the main reason I opted for the antenna mod since I have read that a lot of people shared my experience. If my first Homey worked as good as the second one does I donāt think I would have tried the mod.
There is still the issue with Homey not registering all data transmits from 433 MHz sensors which makes using those sensors for automation rather useless in many applications. However, I suspect that this is a software problem, not a hardware limitation.
Interesting, does anyone know if the newer Homeyās or Homey Proās as they were known received a better RF chip or antenna? RF is a constant problem for me as I use LightwaveRF mood switches for all my light switches - I have modded the antenna on Homey, and indeed modded the antenna on each switch, still it sometimes takes 2-3 attempts for a button to work, other times it works fine. Can only assume itās wifi or something else using the frequency at the same time.
I have a 2019 PRO, and I can tell you as much as the 433 performance is abysmal. Iāve got a NEXA light switch attached to a wall about 2-3meters above the Homey, and itās a complete hit and miss. Iāve even got a remote right next to the Homey, which needs itās buttons pressed at least two times for it to work. It seems like the performance has degraded in the two years Iāve owned it. Zigbee however, is perfect.
Iād also like to add that powered 433 units seem to be working just fine like NEXA (CMR-101), itās the battery powered ones I have issues with.
I did this mod a three years ago with my first Homey. It did not go well (see this post). My main gripe with Homey is the abysmal handling of 433 Mhz sensors, and I was hoping to get much better and more frequent data reporting with a better 433 Mhz antenna. However, after the mod the 433 Mhz system totally broke and it was not due to my tinkering. Athom looked at it and they could not find the reason it broke. I bought a used Homey and that was much better than my first one, so I think there was some issue with that one from factory.
Anyway. For reasons I happen to have two Homeys at the moment, so I thought that I would try the mod again. This time nothing broke and the 433 Mhz sensor reporting is MUCH more frequent and stable! I use several 433 Mhz sensors in several flows and since the mod all flows have been behaving much more to my liking. Happy days!
However, the Zigbee and Z-wave meshs (meshes?) is not showing the same improvement. Zigbee is a little better, but Z-wave is basically the same as before the mod. I have nine Z-wave nodes:
The Homey is placed smack in the center of my house (ground level) and all inner walls are wood, so I thought that the meshs would be no hops at all (like danoneās), except outdoor and basement nodes maybe.
I have no problem controlling devices, so the protocols must be working and the antennas must be transmitting. Maybe I have the wrong antennas? I bought them for the first try and there was only markings on the bags they came in, so I marked them myself. Could I have marked wrong? Is there a way to check what frequency the antennas are? To the best of my recollection I bought one 433 Mhz and two 868 Mhz antennasā¦but now Iām starting to doubt myself.
Is there a way to check what frequency the antennas are? To the best of my recollection I bought one 433 Mhz and two 868 Mhz antennasā¦but now Iām starting to doubt myself.